Of late, NTR's films are getting into a peculiar mode by showing a slight slant towards one song which goes on to become `the representative number' of the film. Like Singu singu singu singu Simhadri in this album for instance which is written keeping in mind his earlier movies and the current image. There is no disputing the fact that Bhuvanachandra has done a good job of it, but this kind of planting-in-the-hero's-image-in-the-listeners'-mind is not too good a trend. Yeluko nayaka penned by Sirivennela Sitaramasastry is a slow number with fast beats. Muddula Gopala chali poddulu kaavala rendered by Udit Narayan and Shreya Ghoshal is one for frontbenchers.

On side B, Veturi's song Rajahmundry ke by Shankar Mahadevan and Suchitra is another foot-tapping one. Krishna Murariki, on the same side, reminds the listener of NTR's rich legacy and legendary family background. Bad trend, again. Mani Sharma's music is certainly an asset in elevating the album, which is okay on the whole.

HINDI

Naqsh-e-Noor... Sa Re Ga Ma... Rs. 55

Finally, we have a female voice actually tailor-made for ghazals minus the required pitch in the absence of which Anita Singhvi's voice breaks and turns shrill. The choice of ghazals in the album is good. After a long gap do we hear some good Urdu couplets in the lyrics of Amjad Aslam Amjad, Javed Qureshi, and Akhtar Shirani. She also sings Begam Akhtar's Un Aankhon ka Salam and Javed Qureshi's Aashiyane ki Baat Karte Ho. The unfortunate part is these ghazals don't touch your nerve because Singh's rendition lacks soul. The singer needs some more training to make it big.

A Tribute to Kishore Kumar... Manasa Audio... Rs. 55 (CD)

A crazy fan of Kishore Kumar since childhood, as he declares in the album, Sudheer Mahavadi pays his tribute to the legendary singer  like any true Kishore Kumar fan  by choosing to render around a dozen songs. But Sudheer makes a mistake here: which is pardonable to an extent given his enthusiasm to show his maniacal love for the late singer. Instead of clubbing songs from different genres  like lilting duets, fast numbers, slow songs, and mood melodies  the singer should have stuck to one kind of music, as is usually done by music companies which bring out compilation albums of yesteryear singers. That way, there is no coherence in this album.

Though Sudheer has remarkably good voice and diction, at times, his accent influenced deeply by his mother tongue, and undue stress on certain words can be felt in a couple of numbers. The song Dil aisa kisi ne mera thoda, and Phoolon ka taaron ka could have been rendered slightly better. But numbers like ... ... are good. It would have been good had Sudheer used a little imagination in recreating the song rather than blindly replicating the original number. And, instead of trying to imitate Kishore Kumar's voice and style of singing, which makes his own voice and the album in general sound a bit artificial - a little Kumar Sanu like, he should have discovered his own style and worked upon it. But, such hiccups and glitches are part of any new artiste's initial days. The album is good in parts and okay on the whole.